Clare Waight Keller to depart French fashion house Chloé

This upcoming Paris Fashion Week in March, will be Clare Waight Keller’s last as the designer for Chloé.

The designer who has been at the fashion helm at Chloe for six years, confirmed her departure plans today, after rumours were circulating that she was planning to leave, and that Chloé would be naming Natacha Ramsay-Levi from Louis Vuitton, as her successor.

Waight Keller, the esteemed designer, cut her teeth at some of fashion’s biggest houses before her appointment at Chloé, working at Pringle of Scotland, as well as Gucci, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.

And her appointment at Chloé has been a hugely successful one for the fashion house, in terms of retail sales. Waight Keller has made an impact with a soft, fluid look that has strong boho elements and has helped drive sales estimated to be around €400m.

Speaking about her departure, the WGSN Catwalks team comments: “The news of her departure was not altogether unexpected but sad nonetheless. Waight Keller leaving is a little like Rex Harrison’s ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed to her Face’ and now we’re set to lose a great Chloé talent. The collections have a distinct Clare handwriting and we love that she has been continuous and consistent in her designs. This Pre-Fall season in particular where the 70s have been reinterpreted into seriously covetable pieces. We hope that her legacy will live on.”

If the fashion rumours are true that Natacha Ramsay-Levi will be stepping into Waight Keller’s shoes, it would bring a very different style to Chloé as she is known for a much harder-edged style and heavy use of leather and modern synthetics.

It is believed that Ramsay-Levi has a huge impact on the Vuitton collections, and is the key interpreter of Ghesquiere’s creative vision, turning it into commercial product along with the wider design team.